Where Is the Praise for Israel’s Attack on Assad’s Chemical Weapons Facility?

Jerusalem—After midnight on Thursday morning, Israeli jets took off and headed north into Lebanon. While over Lebanese airspace, the jets turned toward Syria and fired several missiles. At 2:42 a.m., the missiles struck their intended target—a Syrian military site known for its production and development of chemical weapons and its stockpile of other missiles—and completely destroyed the site.

This was a unique and audacious attack against an official military structure of the Syrian regime (Israel normally only attacks Hezbollah-bound weapon convoys). The facility near Masyaf in the northern Hama region was apparently a Scientific Studies Research Center (cers) building, a government agency that has long been associated with the United States and others with chemical weapons research and production.

While Israel is sticking to its policy of neither confirming nor denying its role in the attack, there is no doubt in the international community that Israel was behind it. Lebanese news outlets confirmed that Israeli jets were overhead the night of the attack, and the Syrian regime also confirmed the attack.

The silence from the rest of the world about Israel’s attack on such a worthy target is absolutely stunning — especially as more evidence emerges of Assad’s continuing atrocities.

Consider the following points:

On Wednesday, a day before the attack, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a statement saying it had compiled extensive evidence to show that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons 20 times during the Syrian civil war. This included the much-publicized Sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhun in April this year, which resulted in the deaths of 83 Syrians. The inquiry found the Russian and Syrian claims that an unknown weapons depot had been hit to be completely baseless.

According to the Times of Israel, the cers facility was recently used in a joint project with Iranian specialists to develop chemical weapons capabilities for missiles. Hezbollah operatives were known to have visited the site numerous times this year and were likely using the location as a transit hub for weaponry. Moreover, there is growing indication that Hezbollah may have been in the process of taking over the facility for its own use.

In early August, an independent panel of United Nations experts submitted a report to the UN Security Council exposing ongoing chemical weapons cooperation between North Korea and Syria. According to the report, Korean shipments had been intercepted twice in the last six months en route to Damascus. Unchecked, the parts would have found their way into the hands of the Syrian government.

Then remember that in 2014 the complete stockpile of the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons was supposedly removed from Syrian soil. Naturally, Russia confirmed that Syria had turned over all its chemical weapons to Moscow.

Finally, recall that 10 years ago, almost to the day, Israeli jets covertly flew into Syria on Sept. 6, 2007, and destroyed a secret nuclear facility used for the production of plutonium. The reactor had been built with the aid of the North Koreans and the Iranians.

Taking these points together, we learn that the Assad regime, for over a decade at least, has been trying to develop chemical and nuclear weapons. We learn that President Bashar Assad is in the habit of lying about his development of nuclear and chemical weapons. We learn that Assad has no problem using chemical weapons on his own people and is even willing to share those weapons with Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah.

With this in mind, you would think that the world would heap praise upon Israel for annihilating such a humanity-destroying site as the cers facility.

Instead, it seems the international community is about to overlook Assad’s failings and accept his continued rule in Syria.

The international community’s tolerance for Assad and its negligence of Israel’s legitimate security concerns reveal that Israel is becomingly increasingly isolated at the precise time its enemies are growing stronger and more violent and are encroaching on its borders.

The January 2015 Philadelphia Trumpet featured a cover illustration of the Earth overshadowing a tiny Israeli man waving the flag of the Jewish state. It read, “Israel vs. the World,” along with the quip: “It is isolated and under siege. What will happen next?” Fast forward 2½ years, and the world hasn’t shifted toward understanding the alarmingly real security threats Israel faces.

On the contrary, the world has largely become deaf toward Israel’s security concerns, even as the screaming jihad against the Jews becomes louder and louder.

For this reason, Israel is currently undergoing the largest military exercises in 19 years. The ten day long exercises are aimed at preparing Israel for a land and missile attack by a combined Iranian-backed force in the north of Israel. Involving tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of more reservists, the operation is Israel’s way of being prepared to do it alone if Iran decides to mobilize its proxies in Lebanon and Syria against the Jews.

However, while Israel is trying to develop the military capabilities to protect itself in the face of such threats, the nation is also in search of allies.

Bible prophecy reveals that Israel will soon think it has found one—not in its traditional supporter of the United States, but rather a United Europe led by Germany. Even now, Europe is starting to realize that Iran and its proxies are the real threat challenging Israel’s and Europe’s security.

On Thursday, just after the jets struck their Syrian target, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was in Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. In their conversation, the president emphasized that Iran was about to “drag the whole region into war,” and specifically called out Iran’s actions in supporting Assad and Hezbollah. According to Israel Hayom, they concluded their conversation speaking of the need for a broader relationship between the two countries.

It is not difficult to see how the common Islamist threat caused Iran’s march across the Middle East may be one of the reasons Israel goes to Germany for help. However, Germany will have more in mind than just defeating radical Islam in responding to Israel’s call.

The most explicit of these biblical prophecies detailing this event can be found in Hosea 5:13 and is thoroughly explained in Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy (free upon request).